About Chuck

A New England native, raised in Connecticut and
Rhode Island, CHUCK DAUKAS has lived in North Carolina for 17 years. He
still regards Rhode Island, the setting for A Little Night Fishing,
as his true home.

Today, Chuck is a dementia care specialist in
North Carolina. Before that, he was a teacher for 18 years, 10 of those
in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. He holds a master's degree in
counseling psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a
bachelor’s degree in creative writing the University of Colorado at
Boulder

Chuck writes: "I worked with autistic adults for
three years, was a case manager and group instructor for adults with
schizophrenia and at risk of incarceration, and for another three years
I was a CNA in two nursing homes and with a homecare company.

"I'm a chronic pain sufferer, the experience
resulting in my first novel, a humorous children’s chapter book,
Hello Piccolo!, about a bird with a broken wing.

"During a long spell where my injury/condition
stayed in the background, I became an avid scuba diver, with the goal of
diving on the wreck of the U-853 off Rhode Island.I was able to make two
dives on the U-boat before my uninvited guest, pain and disability,
returned with a vengeance.

I was also an avid
spear fisherman with an inconvenient tendency to feel sorry for the fish
I was aiming at and, more often than not, I failed to pull the trigger.

"I live with three cats
(two being a mother and tiny kitten who showed up one day to inform me
they were moving in), a dog who showed up under my carport one morning,
all skin and bones, with a bad limp, and several chickens."

"What
keeps me going? Writing, a fascination with World War II, originating in
childhood, caring for those suffering from dementia, my love for
animals, and a highly active (if not warped) sense of humor, along with
the hope of someday returning to Rhode Island with my four-legged
family."